A damning report on Australia's alleged involvement in war crimes in Afghanistan has been released but some say it is more a relief than anything else for many veterans.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week warned the report's release would be "very difficult" day for the country's veteran community.
But Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James disagreed.
"I believe most of them, if they know the facts, will be vastly relieved that people have been held accountable for crimes," Mr James said.
"I mean, why wouldn't you feel relieved at that?"
Chief executive of veteran support service Soldier On, Ivan Slavich, said it would still be tough for those who served previously.
"It's not a great day for the ADF and [there are] many veterans that would be obviously hurting," Mr Slavich said.
It wasn't just the veterans that would be affected. Mr Slavich said it would be their families, too. About 400,000 people had served in the Defence Force since 1990 and with an average of two-to-three family members each, that meant about 1 million Australians.
"So, one in 25 Australians would be very alarmed, disappointed and we know it's really important for the rest of Australia to support [those veterans and their families]," Mr Slavich said.
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Mr James didn't deny the shame some who served in Afghanistan during that period would feel following the report's release, but said it was part of the Army's strong response to fixing the problem.
With the special forces squadron to be disbanded, Mr James said it was a "collective shame" all would have to bear.
"If you've served in that sub-unit ... even if you served on a rotation where nothing, no war crime occurred ... you still carry the collective shame," Mr James said.
"That's one of the reasons I suspect the Army's done it."
As for the national shame the report would inevitably cause, Mr James said it was rightly deserved. Without these actions coming to light, the truth may never have been forever hidden, he said.
"The tragedy of this is that whilst the accountability system finally worked, it took far too long to work," Mr James said.
"Yeah, sure, we suffer a lot of national shame and rightly so but imagine ... if this had never been found out.
"We're better off in the long run, admitting it, and fixing it and making sure it doesn't happen again."
If this story has raised issues for you, please contact:
- Open Arms veterans and families counselling - 1800 011 046
- Safe Zone Support's specialist counsellors - 1800 142 072
Sarah Basford Canales
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
